Party-On Church!

Today is the church’s birthday. Are you feeling especially celebratory and excited about the gifts on offer? Rocking an outfit that is even better than normal Sunday Best? Expecting to partake in some cake and champagne? Do balloons attached to every feasible corner and music so on point that it precipitates dancing seem part of the plan? Are those we consider our nearest and dearest present and correct to join in the festivities? I ask all of this as we would expect all of the above and perhaps a little more at a regular birthday party (I am dwelling on this subject even more as my own birthday is coming up this week!), but sometimes the celebration at the centre of Pentecost seems to have been replaced with an energy that seems more akin to commemoration. Looking at the passage that marks this occasion, I am not only struck by just how dramatic the arrival of the Holy Spirit was but also how it is the ultimate game changer:

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4

If we take this passage apart verse for verse there is a lot to consider for the modern church and indeed the perfect birthday party. Firstly, all the disciples had gathered together in the one place. Unity in location and a decision to be in the one place at the same time often brings about communality of purpose. When someone we love can’t make it to our own special gatherings, we often feel the pang of their absence, and as for the rest of the guests who do turn up there is a clear reason and intention in the gathering. Second, no party is truly memorable without a dramatic entrance. I was once carried into a party because the train of my dress was so long and the ground from car to venue was muddy (yes, I know de trop for sure!), and in this passage we hear of the Holy Spirit arriving like a violent wind and filling the space that the disciples were sitting in. Whilst at home pyrotechnics are best left to the professionals, the fire imagery in the passage sets the scene for what happens next, the gift of tongues received by ‘each of them.’

You see, at a birthday party run by our Lord and Saviour, everyone receives a gift, there are no favourites. What is also significant is that each ‘began to speak…as the Spirit enabled them.’ I get particularly excited by this verse as it points to each individual being different, but because we are all directed by the Spirit, united in the same course. Sometimes, churches can get caught up on what they present rather than who they represent. I have had varied responses when I tell other Christians that I go to HTB: with some thinking it some sort of It Church, filled with a rich, media savvy, beautiful people heavy congregation intent on global domination via the Alpha Course, while others choosing to see that the successes achieved at HTB are a reflection of the passage above as God helps a part of His church grow ‘as the Spirit enabled them.’

So, today, more than any day, we should all have a think about what the church stands for, and how we can make it more of a reflection of this passage. It is about being like a gust of wind that fills a room. When Christians gather together, the atmosphere needs to change distinctly. The Holy Spirit, our Counsellor, who Jesus has given us should be setting the agenda of what is occurring and we should all be terribly excited about the gifts that Jesus has decided to bestow on each of us.

On that note, I am off to have a think about my party ensemble for evensong and what a privilege it is to be part of God’s multifarious family. It takes all sorts to change a generation.